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UNITY     WITH      DIVKRSITY     IN      I'H 


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PREACHKl)    MEl'ORK    rilK 


COLLEGE  OF  NEW  JERSEY, 

JUNE    '25,     Ili7l, 
By    JAMES  McCOSH.    D.Jl,    LL.P. 

l>RESII)EN'r    OK    HIE    COLLEGE. 


PRINCETON  : 

STKI.LE    *    SMITH,    I'UHLISHF.RS    AND    I{<  )OKSKI  I.1•.R^ 
187I. 


5£ 


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UNITY     WITH     DlVliRSlTY     IN      THI- 


mU  iinil  WmA  ol  i&nL 


I'REACHED    BEFORE    THE 


COLLEGE  OF  NEW  JERSEY, 


JUNE    2  5.     lil7J, 


\ 


Br    JAMES   McCOSH,    D.D..    LL.D. 


I'RESIDENT    ()!•      IHE    COLLKOE. 


PRINCETON  : 

STKLLE    .V    SMITH.    I'UtJl.lSHKRS    AND    HOoKSKl.I  KRS. 
187  I. 


Princeton  College,  29  June,  1871. 
Rev.  JAMES  McCOSlI.  D.D.,  I.L.U., 
Dear  Sir  :— 
The  undersigned,   in  behalf  of  the   Class   of  '71,  wishing  to  express  our 
appreciation  of  your    Baccalaureate    Discourse    delivered   last   Sabbath,   would 
respectfully  recjuesl  a  copy  of  the  same  for  publication. 
Respectfully,  &c., 

R.  RANDALL  HOES, 
JOHN  G.  WEIR, 
OLIVER  A.  KERR, 

Committee. 


Princeton,  Sept.,  187 i. 

(jENTLE.MEN  :  — 

I  have  great  pleasure  in  complying  with  your  request,  believing  that  the 
printed  discourse  may  be  an  interesting  memorial  of  your  College  life,  and  your 
intercourse  with 

Yours,  (Xrc, 

[AMES  McCOSH. 


SERMON 


"Now  there  are  diversities  of  gifts,  but  the  same  Spirit.  And  there  are 
differences  of  administrations,  but  the  same  Lord.  And  tliere  are  diversities 
of  operations,  but  it  is  the  same  God  which  worketh  all  in  all." — I.  Cor. 
XII.,  4-6. 

"  And  they  sing  the  song  of  Moses  the  servant  of  God,  and  the  song  of 
the  Lamb."— Rey.  XV.,  3. 

"  Hear,  0  Israel,  the  Lord  our  God  is  one  Lord."  But 
while  Jehovah  is,  and  must  be,  one,  there  are  indications 
from  the  beginning  of  there  being  distinctions  in  the  divine 
nature  :  in  the  Old  Testament  he  is  called  Elohim,  plural 
noun  joined  to  singular  verb;  and  in  the  New  Testament 
he  is  spoken  of  as  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost,— so  that 
God  never  dwelt  in  loneliness,  but  ever  in  the  atmosphere, 
ever  in  the  warmth  of  love,  and  was  thus  ever  in  a  position 
to  exercise  his  highest  perfection.  Again,  the  moral  law, 
the  noblest  enbodiment  and  expression  of  the  divine  nature, 
is  also  one,  summed  up  like  the  divine  character  in  love; 
but  having  a  diversity  of  applications,  to  the  agent  himself, 
to  the  creatures  and  the  Creator,  that  one  law  requiring  us 
to  live  soberly,  righteously  and  godly.  The  profoundest 
investigations  of  philosophers  and  artists  have  shown  that 
beauty,  so  far  as  its  delicate  form  can  be  caught  by  the 
subtlety  of  the  human  intellect,  embraces  unity  with  variety: 
as  it  has  been  expressed,  the  unity  where  it  is  found  being 


6 

beautiful  in  proportion  to  the  variety,  and  tlie  variety  where 
it  exists  ill  proportion  to  the  unity.  I  hope  to  show  in  this 
discourse  that  in  the  Works  of  God  and  in  the  Word 
of  God  viewed  separately,  and  in  the  Works  and  Word 
of  God  in  combination,  there  is  sameness  w^ith  difference, 
after  the  model  of  the  divine  nature,  and  in  correspond- 
ence with  the  good  and  the  lovely.  In  other  words  in  the 
the  true,  as  well  as  in  the  good  and  beautiful,  as  in  God  him- 
self, there  is  oneness  with  diversity  constituting  a  universal 
harmony. 

I.  There  is  Unity  with  Variety  in  the  Works  of  God. 

We  see  this  in  the  Matter  of  the  Universe.  That  Matter  is 
one  and  the  same  in  all  time  and  in  all  space.  As  far  back 
as  history  goes,  as  geology  goes,  we  discover  the  same  natu- 
ral agents  in  the  world  as  w^e  do  now,  in  fire  and  water,  in 
sea  and  land,  in  rivers  and  mountains.  Chemistrj^  tells 
us  that  provisionally  the  elementary  substances  are  a  little 
above  sixty,  and  now  we  know  that  they  are  found  in  the 
heavenly  bodies.  Of  late  years  the  spectroscope,  which 
promises  to  reveal  more  wonders  than  the  telescope  or  micro- 
scope has  done,  shows  that  the  same  bodies  with  which 
we  are  familiar  on  earth,  are  found  in  the  sun  and  those 
distant  stars  :  the  rays  of  light  are  so  affected  as  to  show 
that  they  have  come  through  sodium,  or  hydrogen,  or  some 
other  substance  found  on  our  globe.  But  in  what  a  diver- 
sity of  modes  do  the  bodies  appear  :  in  earth,  water,  air  and 
tire — as  the  ancient  Greeks  classified  them  ;  in  solid,  in  fluid, 
in  vapory,  in  elastic  forms  ;  in  floating  ether,  in  buoyant 
air,  in  yielding  liquid,  in  compact  stones  and  metal ;  in 
gems,  crystals  and  stars  ;  in  plants,  satellites  and  suns ;  in 
the  trunks,  branches,  foliage,  flowers  and  fruit  of  plants: 
in  the  bones,  the  muscles,  the  blood,  the  nerves,  the  brain, 
the  senses  of  animals;  and  in  that  goodly  house  in  whicli 
we  dwell,  and  which  is  so  "  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made." 


We  see  it  w  the  Forces  of  the  Universe.     It  is  the  o-raiul 
discovery  of  the  science  of  oiir  day,  that  the  sum  of  Force, 
actual  and  potential,  in  the  universe  is  always  one  and  the 
same.     The  will  of  man  cannot  add  to  it ;  no  human  effort 
can  diminish  it.     If  you  consume  it  in  one  form  it  appears  in 
another.     A  large  portion   of  it   coming  from  tlie   sun,  is 
taken  up  by  the  plant,  which  is  eaten  by  the  animal,  and  be- 
comes in  us  the  power  which  we  feel   in  our  frame  as  we 
breathe,  and  walk,  and  run,  and  labor.     We  may  use  it  to 
serve  our  purposes  of  good  or  also  of  evil;  but  we  can  use 
it  only  by  means  of  itself,  we  can  evoke  it  in  one  form  only 
by  means  of  the  same  force  in  another  form.     And  after 
we  have  used  it,  it  continues  the  same  in  amount  as  it  was 
before.     After  r  unning  it  may  be  the  round  of  the  universe, 
the  force  may  come  back  to  the  spot  and  take  the  form  in 
which  we  first  noticed  it.     Just  as  the  vapors  which  the 
sun's  heat  exhales  from  the  sea,  rise  into  the  atmosphere 
and  descend  in  rain  on   the  earth,  to  form  rills  and  rivers 
which  flow  back  into  the  ocean  ;  so  the  forces  which  operate 
in  the  earth,  in  air  and  sea,  in  plant  and  animal,  after  run- 
ning their  circuits,  ever  fall  back  into  that  great  ocean  of 
power,  which   is  just  one  manifestation   of  divine  power. 
But  in  what  a  diversity  of  modes  does  this  force  appear: 
in  matter  attracting  matter,  and  holding  atoms  and  worlds 
together;  in  elements  combining  according  to  their  friend- 
ships and  strifes— as  Empedocles  of  old  expressed  it,  accord- 
ing to  their  affinities  as  chemists  now  say;  driving  our 
steam  engines,  heating  our  homes,  quivering  in  the  mag- 
netic needle,  riding  in  the  storms  of  earth  and  in  the  storms 
in  the  sun'satmosphere,  blowingin  the  breeze,  smilingin  the 
sunshine,  striking  in  the  lightning,  and  living  in  every  organ 
ot  the  body.     Like  the  ocean  ever  changing  and  yet  nevei- 
changing;  ever  the  same  and  yet  never  at  rest;  moving  in 
every  molecule,  every  planet  and  every  star;  imparting  un- 
ceasing activity  and  yet  securing  an   undisturbed  stability. 


We  see  it  in  the  orderb/  Arranfjcmmt  of  the  Matter  and 
Forces  of  the  Universe.  For  the  material  of  the  world  might 
have  been  what  it  is,  and  tlie  forces  of  the  world  might 
have  been  wliat  they  are,  and  the  result,  not  order  but 
confusion,  spreading  misery  and  dismay  instead  of  happi- 
ness and  comfort.  It  is  clear  that  He  who  created  the  ele- 
ments and  their  properties,  has  imparted  to  them  such  a 
disposition  and  distribution,  that  they  fall  into  order  each 
in  its  appropriate  place,  like  the  stones  in  a  building, 
like  soldiers  arranged  into  companies  every  one  with  a 
duty  to  discharge.  The  world  is  built  up,  as  was  fabled 
of  the  walls  of  ancient  Thebes,  by  some  sort  of  music  or 
harmonizing  power. 

The  issue  is  first  beneficent  law^s  such  as  the  revolution 
of  the  seasons,  of  the  times  of  budding  and  bearing  seed 
by  plants,  and  of  the  birth,  youth  and  maturity  of  animals. 
Such  laws  as  distinguished  from  the  forces  of  the  universe, 
are  not  simple,  as  many  suppose,  but  highly  complex ;  the 
result  of  construction,  quite  as  much  as  a  house  is  or  a 
watch  is.  What  a  number  of  agencies,  for  example,  are 
involved  in  the  periodical  return  of  spring:  there  are  the 
movements  and  the  relative  position  of  the  earth  and  sun  ; 
there  are  the  law^s  of  light  and  heat,  and  the  constitution  of 
the  animal  and  vegetable  kingdoms.  The  co-operation  of 
these  does  not  proceed  from  the  mere  rude  matter  of  the 
world,  nor  from  its  blind  forces,  but  from  an  arrangement 
made  to  accomplish  an  evidently  intended  end,  the  pre- 
valence of  order  in  the  form  of  a  law,  which  is  to  be  regard- 
ed as  an  expression  of  the  will  of  God,  and  enabling  the 
intelligent  creatures  to  gather  knowledge.  Without  such 
a  system  of  general  laws,  man  as  at  present  constituted  could 
not  gather  wisdom  from  experience,  could  not  foresee  coming 
events,  could  not  avoid  the  threatened  evil,  or  lay  hold  of 
the  promised  good.  It  is  by  there  being  a  uniformity  estab- 
lished whereby  the  future  so  far  resembles  the  past,  that  we 


are  ciiahknl  to  anticiiiatc  what  is  belbi'C  us  and  lav  our  plans 
accordino^ly. 

But  along  with  tlio  s^-stcni  of  g-cneral  laws,  tliere  is  an 
adaptation  of  law  to  law,  and  of  every  one  thing  to  every 
other,  so  as  to  bring  about  individual  events,  Tlius  by  a 
series  of  very  complex  arraugenients  among  tlie  matters 
and  forces  of  the  universe,  we  have  a  series  of  joints  in  tlie 
animal  frame,  and  the  joints  differing  according  to  their 
positions:  a  ball  and  socket  joint  for  instance,  turning  all 
round  at  the  shoulders,  where  it  is  a  convenience,  but  not 
in  the  fingers,  where  it  would  be  a  weakness  and  an  incum- 
brance. By  these  arrangements  God  can  accomplish  not 
only  his  general  des-gns  but  his  specific  purposes.  This  it 
is  which  constitutes  Providence:  that  npovotau  which  Socrates 
defended  against  an  ignorant  mob,  that  could  not  discover 
the  one  God  amid  the  multiplicity  of  his  purposes,  and 
against  the  self  conceited  sophists,  who  were  not  able  to 
distinguish  between  truth  and  error.  This  providence  is  a 
general  one  reaching  over  the  whole  ;  but  it  does  so  because 
it  is  a  particular  providence  providing  for  every  beirig,  and 
for  all  wants.  So  delicately  constituted  is  this  whole  sys- 
tem, that  it  moves  sympathetically  with  our  position,  our 
needs,  our  feelings.  It  is  so  ordered  that  "the  very  hairs 
of  our  head  are  all  numbered,"  and  "  a  sparrow  cannot  fiUl 
to  the  ground  without  him."  At  the  close  of  life,  or  as  he 
contemplates  the  scene  from  heaven,  the  good  man  will  see 
that  he  has  been  led  by  a  way  far  better  than  he  could  have 
chosen,  and  that  throughout  his  steps  "  have  been  ordered 
by  the  Lord." 

They  tell  us  that  all  this  order  with  adaptation  proceeds 
from  tlie  physical  agents  of  the  world.  All  true,  but  the 
wonder  is  to  find  mechanical  forces  working  through  ages, 
producing  such  wise,  and  beneficent,  and  harmonious  re- 
sults. The  forces  of  Xha  universe  are  distributed  into  num- 
bered companies,  which  march  in  measured  step  to  the  sound 


10 

of  iiuisir.  rvtlian'oras  doclarecl  tluit  it  is  l)ecanso  men  arc 
(lull  of  lieaiMn<i\  that  they  do  not  bear  the  music  of  tlie 
spheres.  Certain  it  is,  that  it  is  is  only  because  we  have 
failed  to  train  as  we  ous^bt  onr  intellectual  orsrans,  that  we 
do  not  perceive  a  wider  ranging  harmony  in  the  universe, 
than  in  the  most  skilfully  arranged  musical  concert. 

We  sec  it  in  onr  3Ient(d  Talents  and  Tastes.  The  mind  is 
suited  to  the  position  in  which  it  is  placed  in  the  world,  and 
the  world  is  adapted  to  the  minds  which  are  to  observe  and 
use  it.  There  is  order  in  the  world,  and  man  is  so  consti- 
tuted as  to  discover  and  admire  it.  There  is  reason  in  the 
works  of  God,  and  reason  in  man's  mind  to  appreciate  it. 
^'If  the  laws  of  our  reason,"  says  Oersted,  "did  not  exist  in 
nature,  we  would  vainly  attempt  to  force  them  upon  her; 
if  the  laws  of  nature  did  not  exist  in  oitr  j-eason,  we  should 
not  be  able  to  comprehend  them."  Tb'e  forms  which  min- 
erals assum-e  when  they  crystallize  ;  the  elliptic  orbits  of  the 
planets  ;  the  hyperbojic  curves  of  the  comets  ;  the  spiral 
confoi-mations  of  tlie  nebular  groups  of  the  heavens,  of  the 
ap})en'lages  of  plants  around  their  axis,  and  of  the  whorls 
of  the  shells  of  molluscs;  the  conical  shape  of  the  fruit  of 
pines  and  tirs  with  the  rhomboids  on  their  surface,  are  all 
constructed  according  to  mathematical  laws  which  have 
their  seat  in  the  intelligence  and  can  be  evolved  by  pure 
thought.  When  we  ascend  to  the  higher  manifestations 
of  life,  in  particular,  when  we  rise  to  the  human  form, 
we  do  not  find  the  same  rigid  lines  as  in  crj'stals,  nor  are 
the  invaria])le  curves  of  the  nebulae  and  plants  so  observa- 
ble :  but  I  believe  they  are  still  there  blended  in  innumer- 
able ways,  so  as  to  give  an  infinite  sweep  and  variety  to 
the  graceful  forms  on  which  the  eye  ever  delights  to  rest, 
and  which  the  mind  never  wearies  to  contemplate,  and  the 
mind  unconsciously  follows  now  the  one  and  now  the  other 
till  it  is  lost  in  a  perfect  wilderness  of  beauty. 

There  is  a  point  here  at  which  the  laws  of  thought  and 
the  laws  of  things,  at  whicli  physics  and  metaphysics  meet 


11 

and  become  one.  There  is  l)eauty  in  (Jod's  works  and  man 
has  a  taste  for  it.  Man's  intellect  formed  after  the  imao-o 
of  God  deliii'hts  in  unity  with  variety,  and  nature  presents 
those  every  where:  in  starry  sky  and  gilded  cloud,  in 
mountain  and  romantic  glen,  in  IJeld  and  river,  in  tlovver 
and  forest.  And  above  even  beauty,  as  much  higher  as  the 
sky  is  above  the  earth,  we  have  a  subliniity  in  the  massive 
rock,  in  the  rolling  thunder,  in  the  boundless  ocean,  in  the 
star  bespangled  expanse  of  lieaven,  all  fitted,  all  intended 
to  call  forth  the  idea  of  the  iniinite,  which  the  mind  of  man 
is  ever  striving  to  lay  hold  oi  and  yet  cannot  grasp.  Man 
has  faculties  of  a  high  and  varied  order,  and  he  has  means 
of  gratitying,  cultivating  and  refining  them  in  the  study  of 
the  w^orks  of  God  ;  and  I  may  add  in  the  study  of  the 
works,  wdiich  man  is  able  to  fashion  by  his  heaven  endowed 
gifts,  in  music,  in  painting,  in  statuary,  in  architecture  and 
most  fully— in  what  is  the  noblest  of  the  fine  arts— in  lite- 
rature, in  which  the  highest  wisdom  as  disclosed  by  phi- 
losophy, history,  science— mental,  social  and  physical— is 
embodied  in  the  well  proportioned  expressions  of  prose, 
and  the  infinite  modulations  of  poetry—  lyric,  didactic,  tragic, 
comic  and  epic.  All  these  are  thrown  open  to  us  in  un- 
grudging profusion,  that  w^e  may  form  acquaintance  w^ith 
them,  and  converse  with  them,  that  we  may  drink  in  their 
spirit  and  be  moulded  after  their  example.  Here  we  have 
a  fund  of  wealth  wdiich  can  never  be  exhausted,  things 
suited  to  all,  things  adapted  to  each,  to  every  talent,  every 
taste,  and  every  pursuit  and  destination  of  life.  It  is  clear 
that  the  intellect,  and  the  sensibilities  of  our  nature  are 
adapted  in  every  way  to  our  position;  and  that  the  same 
God  made  the  w^orld  within  and  the  world  without.  It  is 
evident  that  the  God  who  made  the  eye  also  made  thelifht 
that  falls  on  it ;  and  it  is  equally  certain  that  lie  wdio  made 
matter  also  made  mind,  and  these  in  beautiful  correspon- 


12 

(k'uce  tlio  OIK'  to  tlie  other,  tlie  one  to  be  used,  tlie  other  to 
use  it,  the  one  to  be  contemplated,  the  other  to  contemplate  it. 

"  From  harmony,  from  heavenly  harmony 
This  universal  frame  began. 
From  harmony  to  harmony, 

Through  all  the  compass  of  the  notes  it  ran, 
The  diapason  closing  full  in  man.'" 

II.  There  is  Unity  with  Diversity  in  the  Word  of 
God. 

That  word  was  written  at  very  difterent  times  and  by 
writers  of  very  different  cbaracters,  tastes,  talents  and  tem- 
[)eraments.  Some  of  tlie  anthors  write  in  a  clear  and  sim- 
ple, others  in  an  ornate,  a  sharp,  or  apotliegmatic.  in  a  bold, 
or  a  sublime  style.  Some  of  the  books  have  upon  them  the 
hoar  of  antiquity,  and  introduce  us  to  the  fiithers  of  the 
race  and  the  beginnings  of  the  stream  of  history.  Others 
are  evidently  composed  when  thought  is  matured  and  cul- 
ture has  reached  a  high  perfection.  One  preserves  a  valua- 
ble piece  of  histor}^  another  opens  to  our  view  the  human 
heart  in  biograpln',  a  third  enjoins  practical  precept,  a  fourth 
expounds  doctrine  in  systematic  order.  One  takes  up  his 
parable,  another  pours  forth  a  song,  a  third  utters  a  warn- 
ing, a  fourth  cheers  the  dark  days  of  the  people  of  God 
with  the  prospect  of  better  times.  The  greatest  of  all  the 
teachers  touches  the  tendei'est  cords,  and  moves  the  lowest 
depths  of  the  heart,  l^iy  simple  statement,  by  vivid  illustra- 
tion, derived  fro?n  the  works  of  nature  and  the  experience 
of  liuman  life,  by  truth  which  recommends  itself  intuitively, 
by  sentiment  issuing  directly  from  a  tender  heart,  and  by 
pure  precept  descending  from  heaven  to  purify  the  earth. 
"  God  who  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners  spake  in 
time  past  unto  the  fathers  by  the  prophets,  hath  in  these 
last  days  spoken  unto  us  by  his  Son.''  But  in  the  midst 
of  all  this  diversity  there  is  unity  from  beginning  to  end. 
There  is  one  stream,  rising  in  a  pure  fountain  in  Eden  ;  be- 


13 

coniiiiij:  defiled  in  tlic  terrible  fall  into  the  abyss  of  sin; 
often  troubled  and  interrupted  and  having  to  burst  through 
chasms;  now  widening,  and  now  narrowed, but  flowing  on 
towards  the  ocean  of  eternity.  The  events  occur  after  a 
model  ;  the  dispensations  are  after  a  pattern,  the  men  are 
after  a  type  who  are  looking  towards  an  archetyi)e,  first  seen 
in  the  dim  distance  and  then  appearing  in  tlie  fulness  of 
time.  It  is  one  progressive  march  of  prophecy  through  the 
ages,  culminating  ever  and  anon  in  a  fulfillment.  It  is  one 
creed  in  regard  to  God  and  Christ  and  man,  in  regard  to 
this  world  and  the  world  to  come,  and  this  underlying — like 
the  deeper  rocks  of  our  earth — the  whole  history,  the  song, 
the  dispensations  and  the  precepts. 

The  unit)/  arises  mainly  from  the  circumstance  that  there  ?6' 
one  God  inspiring  the  ivriterSyRud  bringing  them  all  to  a  con- 
sistency. Even  as  "  the  Lord  our  God  is  one  Lord,"  so 
the  Word  which  he  hath  inspired  is  also  one.  This  is  the 
grand  central  sun  which  binds,  which  illumines  all  the  parts, 
securing  a  continuity  in  the  history  and  a  congruity  in  the 
doctrine  and  practical  injunction.  While  "  all  scripture  is 
given  by  inspiration  of  God,"  it  is  profitable  for  a  variety 
of -purposes  "for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for 
instruction  in  righteousness." 

It  arises  from  the  ichole  being  a  development  of  the  one  plan 
of  redemption.^  We  have  seen  that  there  is  a  universal  har- 
mony in  nature.  But  it  is  evident  that  somehow  a  discord- 
ant element  has  beeii  introduced.  The  one  of  these  is  as 
clear  and  as  certain  as  the  other.  If  the  one  be  a  fact  so  is 
the  other.  Our  business  is  as  observers  to  notice  both,  as 
lovers  of  truth  to  receive  both.  Looking  within  we  find 
natural  conscience  clearly  indicating  that  man  is  alienated 
from  God ;  he  is  afraid  of  God,  he  turns  away  from  God. 
But  not  oidy  is  man  not  at  peace  with  God,  he  is  not  at 
peace  with  himself.  First  there  is  an  accusing  conscience, 
and  then  there  are  lusts  which  wai*  ac^ainst  each  other  and 


14 

war  against  the  soul.  Jjooking  without  we  see  I'euds,  and 
wars,  and  bh)odshed  ;  we  see  disease,  disappointment  and 
deatli,  scarcel\'  less  prevalent  than  health-  and  happiness. 
All  these  things  can  be  traced  directly  or  indirectly  to  sin 
as  their  source.  Kow  the  Word  of  G(  d  reveals  a  way  by 
which  this  discordance  is  removed,  by  a  reconciler  and  a 
redemption  paid  by  him.  In  its  evolution  the  plan  assumes 
various  formb,  the  Patriarchal,  the  Jewish,  the  Christian,  and 
there  nuiy  be  a  new  modification  in  the  millennium.  But 
it  is  substantially  the  same  along  the  wdiole  line.  God  ap- 
pears everywhere  as  a  holy  God,  saving  sinners  through  the 
sufferings  of  his  Son.  It  is  under  this  aspect  that  he  is  pre- 
sented every  where  throughout  the  scriptures.  In  the  first 
promise  to  fallen  man  the  seed  of  the  woman  is  represented 
as  having  his  heel  bruised  by  the  powder  of  the  serpent, 
which  has  its  head  crushed  in  the  act.  In  the  first  w^orship 
in  Adam's  household  there  is  the  ofiering  of  a  bleeding  sacri- 
fice. In  a  later  age,  the  first  act  of  Noah  landed  on  a  new^ 
earth  was  the  presenting  of  sacrifices  unto  the  Lord.  You 
might  have  followed  the  wandering  path  of  the  patriarchs 
by  the  altars  which  they  built,  and  the  smoke  of  the  sacri- 
fices which  they  offered.  Under  the  law  almost  all  things 
were  purified  by  blood.  The  grand  object  presented 
in  the  Xew  Testament  is  a  bleeding  Saviour  suspended 
on  the  cross.  It  is  thus  the  same  view  that  is  presented 
under  the  Patriarchal,  the  Jewish  and  the  Christian  dispen- 
sations. Except  in  the  degree  of  development  there  is  no 
difference  between  God  as  revealed  in  Eden,  as  revealed  in 
Sinai,  and  revealed  on  Calvary;  between  God  as  described 
in  the  Books  of  Moses,  and  God  as  described  so  many  cen- 
turies later  in  the  writings  of  Paul  and  of  John.  In  the 
garden  of  Eden  we  have  the  lawgiver,  and  we  have  indica- 
tions of  the  Saviour  as  the  seed  of  the  woman.  On  Mount 
Sinai  there  is  the  same  combination  of  awful  justice  and 
condescending  mercy ;  the  same  law  w^-itten  on  stone,  but 


15 

with  a  provisi(-)ii  for  ofierini;'  sac-ritic-es  as  an  atoneiiiciit 
for  sill.  Ill  tlic  iiiystcrious  transactions  on  Calvary  there 
is  an  awful  forsaking  and  a  fearful  darkness  emblematic  of 
the  righteousness  and  indignation  of  God,  as  well  as  a 
melting  tenderness  in  the  words  of  our  Lord,  breathing 
forgiveness,  and  telling  of  an  opened  paradise.  Tlie  first 
book  of  scripture  discloses  to  ns  a  worshipper  ottering  a 
lamb  in  sacrifice,  and  the  last  book  shows  a  lamb  as  it  had 
been  slain  in  the  midst  of  the  throne  of  God  ;  "'  I  bebeld 
and  lo,  in  the  midst  of  tbe  throne  stood  a  lamb  as  it  had 
been  slain."  In  heaven  they  "  sing  the  song  of  Moses  the 
servant  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb." 

Again,  H  arises  from,  the  unit//  with  rariehf  in  the  experience 
of  believers.  In  essential  points  the  experience  of  "All  ^_  alike, 
and  bas  been  so  from  the  beo:innino::*''  It  is  tliaf!'of4)ein2:s 
formed  at  first  in  the  image 'of  ^GodJ^'from  which  tliey  have 
fidlen,  but  now  struga:iing  wirti  sin  amid  fears  and  hopes, 
defeats  and  triumphs/ and  aspiring  after  communion  with 
God  and  conformity  tt)  his  will.  There  is  a  remarkable  cor- 
respondencef  in  this  respect  between  the  state  and  feelings 
of  the  people  of  God  in  all  ages.  In  particular  we  see  and 
feel  tbat  there  is  a  curious  correspondence  between  tbeir 
situation,  and  that  of  the  children  of  Israel  as  ransomed 
from  Egypt.  It  was  evidently  ordained  at  tlie  constitunon 
of  the  kingdom  of  Israel  that  these  events  should  take 
place,  not  only  as  a  means  of  training  ancient  Israel,  but 
for  tbe  nurture  and  instruction  of  the  people  of  God  in 
every  age,  who  sing  on  eartli,  and  sball  sing  in  heaven  "the 
song  of  Moses  the  servant  of  God."  Were  the  Israelites 
delivered  from  a  degraded  and  cruel  bondage?  So  are  we, 
but  from  a  greater  and  more  fearful  shivery.  Did  the  Lord 
raise  up  for  his  ancient  people  a  deliverer  in  Moses  ?  For 
his  people  in  these  times  he  has  provided  a  yet  greater  de- 
liverer, for  "  a  greater  than  Moses  is  here."  Did  he  conduct 
ancit'iit    Israel    through    a    desert,     supjdyiiig    them    with 


16 

all  needful  blessings,  with  manna  to  feed  them,  and  water 
to  (jueneh  their  thirst,  raising  a  pillar  of  cloud  to  guide 
them  by  day,  and  ever  kindling  this  into  a  pillar  of  fire  by 
night?  He  still  leads  his  people  through  the  wilderness  of 
this  world,  supplying  their  temporal  and  spiritual  wants, 
iiiving  them  bread  to  eat  of  which  the  world  knoweth  not, 
and  living  water  from  the  smitten  rock  which  is  Christ,  and 
he  will  at  last  conduct  to  the  rest  which  remaineth  for  the 
people  of  God.  Being  placed  in  circumstances  so  similar 
we  feel  as  if  every  appeal  addressed  to  them  should  also 
come  home  to  us.  Thus  when  the  commandments  are  pre- 
faced with  the  declaration  "  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God  which 
have  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  out  of  the  house 
of  bondage,"  we  feel  as  if  the  motive  were  one  which 
should  also  operate  upon  us,  and  that  we  should  obey  all 
the  -commandments,  because  we  have  been  redeemed  by  the 
blood  of  Christ.  That  Old  Testament  narrative  is  all  true 
history,  and  yet  it  reads  as  if  it  were  a  parable,  written  by 
some  man  of  God  for  our  instruction,  so  adapted  is  it  to  our 
feelings  and  circumstances.  • 

We  have  a  like  experience  in  the  Book  of  Psalms.  The 
song  of  Moses  is  also  the  song  of  the  sweet  Psalmist. 
What  mean  these  wrestlings  so  frequently  and  aiFectingly 
described,  these  conflicts  with  an  enemy,  these  humiliations, 
these  successes  ?  The  christian  has  ever  felt  that  these  ex- 
periences come  home  to  his  case,  and  he  sings  the  songs  of 
Zion,  giving  a  deeper  meaning  to  them  than  even  the  author 
of  them  was  conscious  of.  Coming  to  the  JSTew  Testament 
we  find  One  who  was  without  sin,  but  who  because  he  stood 
in  the  room  of  sinners  was  obliged  to  say,  "  my  soul  is  ex- 
ceeding sorrowful  even  unto  death,"  "  my  God,  my  God 
why  hast  thou  forsaken  me."  We  see  that  the  song  of 
Moses  is  also  the  song  of  the  Lamb.  The  Apostle  Paul 
describes  as  a  universal  characteristic  of  christian  experience, 
"The  flesh  lusteth  against  the  spirit  and  the  spirit  against 


17 

the  liesli,  and  those  ai'e  eoiitrai'v  the  one  to  the  other,"  and 
lie  liad  to  exehuin,  ''  O  wretehed  man  that  I  am,  \\]n)  sliall 
deliver  me  from  the  hody  of  this  death."  Now  wherever 
we  have  a  faithful  account  of  the  feelino-s  of  the  l)eliever, 
we  tind  his  experience  corresponding  to  that  of  Paul.  Look 
at  the  confessions  of  Augustine,  the  letters  and  lives  of  the 
Reformers,  and  the  diaries  of  later  Christians,  and  we  find 
all  of  them  mourning  over  a  remainder  of  sin,  with  wliieli 
they  are  earnestly  contending,  and  which  they  hope  finally 
to  conquer.  It  is  extremely  interesting,  and  instructive 
withal,  to  ohserve  this  unit}'  of  feeling,  and  to  discover  be- 
lievers separated  from  each  other  by  so  many  ages,  and  liv- 
ing in  sucli  different  states  of  society  passing  through  very 
much  the  same  experience.  It  is  an  evidence  that*  our  re- 
ligion is  the  same  in  all  ages,  the  same  grace  of  God  acting 
on  the  same  human  nature.  The  people  of  every  age,  those 
who  come  from  the  north  and  the  south,  from  the  east  and  the 
west,  will  be  able  to  Join  in  the  song  of  Moses  and  the 
Lairib. 

But  while  there  is  the  same  spirit  there  are  diversities 
of  operation.  Because  the  spirit  works  in  a  certain  way 
in  the  breast  of  one  believer,  this  is  no  reason  why  he  should 
work  in  the  same  way  in  the  heart  of  every  other  believer, 
or  any  other  believer.  He  finds  different  individuals  w^ith 
different  natural  temperaments  and  beset  by  different  sins 
and  temptations,  and  he  suits  his  manifestations  to  the  dif- 
ference of  their  state  and  character.  Let  no  christian  then 
insist  that  the  work  of  the  spirit  must  be  precisely  the  same 
in  the  heart  of  every  other  as  in  his  own.  Xor  should  any 
humble  child  of  God  permit  himself  to  doubt  of  the  reality 
of  a  work  of  grace  in  his  own  heart,  merely  because  his  ex- 
perience has  not  been  the  same  with  that  of  some  others  of 
whom  he  has  read,  with  whom  he  has  taken  sweet  counsel,  or 
who  has  opened  U[)  his  heai't  to  him.  Just  as  there  is  diver- 
sity in  the  works  of  nature,  in  <;he  color  and  size  of  the  plants 


18 

and  animals,  that  people  the  air,  earth  and  ocean,  just  as 
there  is  a  variety  in  tlie  countenance  and  shape  of  the  bodily 
frames  of  liuman  beings,  just  as  one  star  differeth  from 
another;  so  christians,  while  all  after  one  high  model,  are 
made  to  take  different  forms  and  hues  of  beauty  on  earth, 
and  shall  thus  be  transplanted  to  heaven,  to  adorn  the  gar- 
den of  God  and  shine  as  stars,  each  with  his  own  glory  in 
the  firmament  above.  As  in  heaven  the  foundations  of  the 
wall  of  the  city  are  garnished  with  "  all  manner  of  precious 
stones,"  and  the  tree  of  life  in  the  midst  of  the  street 
bears  "twelve  manner  of  fruits,"  so  the  people  of  God  will 
there  as  here  have  each  his  own  characteristics,  and  the 
song  which  ascends  will  be  a  concert  of  diverse  voices,  each 
melodious,  and  each  in  its  diversity  joining  with  the  others 
to  make  the  harmon3\  Each  in  his  own  way  will  join  in 
singing  "  the  song  of  Moses  the  servant  of  God  and  of  the 
Lamb> 

III.  There  is  an  accordance  between  the  Works  and 
Word  of  God  and  yet  there  is  a  difference.  Both  come 
from  God  and  therefore  reflect  the  character  of  God.  But 
they  exhibit  it  in  somewhat'  different  light.  Mature  teaches 
us  by  potent  forces,  by  arrangements,  by  laws,  and  show^s 
order  and  beneficence.  The  Word  instructs  by  flexible 
language,  by  clear  enunciations,  by  arguments,  b}^  appeals, 
by  threatenings,  by  promises,  and  tells  of  a  sin  hating  God 
who  yet  pardons  iniquity.  The  works  manifest  his  power 
and  his  wisdom.  The  Word  displays  more  fully  his  holiness 
on  the  one  hand  and  his  mercy  on  the  other.  When  Moses 
desired  to  behold  the  glory  of  God,  the  Lord  passed  by 
before  him  and  proclaimed  "  The  Lord,  the  Lord  God, 
merciful  and  gracious,  long  suffering  and  abundant  in  good- 
ness and  truth,  keeping  mercy  for  thousands,  forgiving  ini- 
quity and  transgression  and  sin,  and  that  will  by  no  means 
clear  the  guilty." 


19 

It    niiiJ^t  be   acknowledged  tliat  there   are  times   wlieii 
seience  and   scripture   seem    as   it'  they  contradicted   each 
otlier,  with  no  means  of  reconciling  them.     But  it  is  only 
as  one  brancli  ot*  science  may  seem  to  be  inconsistent  with 
another.     There  are  times  when  astronomy  seems  to  run 
counter  to  geology  :  geology  requires  very  long  ages  to  ex- 
plain its  phenomena,  to  account  for  the  successive  strata  and 
races  of  animals  on  the  eartli's  surface,  whereas  astronomy 
seems  to  say  that  so   long  time  has  not  elapsed  since  the 
earth    was   formed    by  the   rotation   of  nebulous    matter. 
Nobody  thinks  that  there  can  be  any  absolute  contradiction 
between  the  two  sciences ;  every  one  believes  that  sooner 
or  later  the  seeming  inconsistencies  will  be  cleared  up.     I 
say  the  same  of  the  apparent  incongruities  between  Genesis 
and  geology.     Account  for  it  as  we  may  there  is  a  general 
correspondence  between  the  two,  the  record  in  stone  and 
the  record  in   scripture.     There  is  an  order  with   a  pro- 
gression which   is  very  much  the  same   in   both.     In  both 
there  is  light  before  the  sun  appears.     In  Genesis  the  fiat, 
"  Let  there  be  light  and  there   was  light"  goes  forth   the 
first  day,  and  the  sun  comes  out  the  fourth  day,  in  accord- 
ance wdth  science,  which  tells  us  that  the  earth  was  thrown 
off*  ages  before  the  sun  had  become  condensed  into  the  cen- 
tre of  the  planetary  system.     In  both  the  inanimate  comes 
before  the  animate  ;  in  both  the  plant  is  supposed  to  come 
before  the  animal;  and  in  both  fishes  and  fowl  before  creep- 
insT  thinirs  and  cattle.     In  both  we  have  as  the  last  of  the 
train,  man,  standing  upright  and  facing  the   sky,  made  of 
the  dust  of  the  ground  and  yet  filled  with  the  inspiration  of 
the  Almighty.     It  is  clear  that  there  must  be  great  truth  in 
that  opening   chapter    of  Genesis  which   has    anticipated 
geology  by  three  thousand  years.     With  such  correspon- 
dences we  may  leave  the  apparent  irreconcilabilities  to  be 
explained  by  future  investigation.     "  He  that  believeth  will 
not  make  haste."     At  times  it  is  not  easy  to  reconcile  i)ro- 


20 

fane  liistorv  with  scripture;  but  ever  and  anon  tlioro  east 
up  such  tilings  as  tlie  monuments  of  Egypt,  the  pahtces  of 
Nineveh,  iind  the  stone  of  Moab  to  tell  us  that  the  Old  Tes- 
tament gives  us  a  correct  picture  of  the  state  of  the  nations 
in  ancient  times.  AVe  who  dwell  in  a  world  "  where  day  and 
night  alternate,"'  we  who  go  ever^^vvhere  accompanied  with 
our  own  shadow,  cannot  expect  to  be  delivered  from  the 
daikness,  but  we  liave  enough  of  light  to  show  the  ^lath 
which  will  lead  us  through  the  perplexities. 

I  might  dwell  on  the  numerous  analogies  between  na- 
ture and  revelation.  Both  give  the  same  expanded  views 
of  the  greatness  of  God  ;  the  one  by  showing  his  workman- 
ship, the  other  by  its  descriptions.  "  The  heavens  declare  the 
glory  of  God  and  the  firmament  showeth  liis  handiwork. 
Day  unto  day  uttereth  speech  and  night  unto  night  show- 
eth knowledge."  Both  show  that  there  is  only  one  God: 
the  works,  which  are  bound  in  one  concatenated  system, 
and  the  Word  when  it  declares  that  "  the  Lord  our  God  is 
one  Lord."  But  instead  of  launching  forth  on  this  wide 
but  obvious  and  common  place  subject  I  must  confine  my- 
self to  two  points  brought  into  prominence  by  recent  sci- 
ence. 

One  is  the  operation  of  development  or  evolution.  We 
see  it  everywhere  both  in  the  natural  and  supernatural  dis- 
pensations of  God.  "  The  sun  ariseth  and  the  sun  goeth 
down,  and  hasteth  to  his  place  whence  hearose."  "The  wind 
returneth  again  according  to  his  circuits."  "  Unto  the 
place  from  whence  the  rivers  aiise  they  return  again." 
But  while  all  thincfs  ffo  in  their  circuits,  yet  in  doins^  so 
they  leave  their  abiding  results  :  the  sun  calleth  fortli  vege- 
tation and  givetli  heat  and  light;  the  winds  give  breatii  to 
every  living  thing  ;  and  the  rivers  leave  their  deposit  which 
when  raised  up  may  become  fertile  land.  We  see  it  in  tlie 
earth  bringing  forth  grass,  "  the  herb  yielding  seed  and  the 
fruit  tree  vieldino-  fruit  after  his  kind,  wliose  seed  is  in  it- 


21 

self."  All  tills  (loos  not  prove  as  some  would  aver,  that 
there  is  nothinn'  hut  developinent.  The  extent  of  the  ])ro- 
ccss  has  not  yet  l)een  settled  ;  hut  it  is  eertain  tliat  it  has 
limits.  For  there  cannot  hv  development  without  some 
previous  material,  without  some  seed  out  of  which  the 
thing  developed  has  eome,  and  the  most  advanced  science 
cannot  show  wdience  or  how  the  oriu'inal  matter  and  germ 
have  come.  And  then  development  is  a  very  complex 
operation  in  wdiich  there  is  a  vast  variety  of  agents  known 
and  unknown,  and  these  evidently  comhined  hy  a  power 
ahove  them  to  accomplish  a  purpose.  As  evolution  from 
a  germ  according  to  a  general  law  is  a  common  process  in 
nature,  so  we  see  a  like  operation  in  the  kingdom  of  grace. 
The  Jewish  economy  is  developed  out  of  the  Patriarchal, 
the  Christian  out  of  the  Jewish  according  to  a  law  in  the 
Divine  Mind  and  by  agencies  appointed  hy  Divine  Wisdom; 
and  the  seed  planted  eighteen  hundred  years  in  the  world 
has  become  a  wide  spread  tree  ;  all  implying  an  original 
germ  and  a  formative  process,  rising  into  higher  and  ever 
higher  forms  of  spiritual  life,  and  about  to  efHoresce  into  a 
period,  in  which  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  shall  be  poured  on 
all  iiesh. 

Another  point  is,  that  experience,  history  and  science 
all  concur  with  the  Word  of  God  in  the  view  which  they 
present  of  the  state  of  things  in  which  we  are  placed. 
The  vain  and  frivolous  may  feel  as  if  the  Scriptures  have 
drawn  too  dark  a  picture  of  our  world,  when  they  describe 
it  as  a  scene  of  sin  and  sutfering,  w^ith  terrible  conflicts 
within  and  without.  But  all  who  have  had  large  experi- 
ence of  human  life  will  be  ready  to  acknowledge  that  the 
account  is  a  correct  one.  The  faithful  representation  of 
human  character  is  to  many  the  most  satisfactory  evidence 
of  the  truthfulness  of  the  Word  of  God.  The  young  and 
inexperienced  may  iTuagine,  that  in  that  distant  spot  on  the 
landscape  on    which   the  sun    is  shining,  there  must  be    a 


paradise  still  lingering  on  our  eartli  :  but  when  they  aetu- 
ally  go  to  it  tliey  lind  it  to  be  very  much  like  the  other 
parts  of  the  earth's  surtace.  Often  in  sailing  on  the  rough 
ocean  have  I  imagined  that  away  in  the  horizon  there  is  an 
unbroken  calm,  but  on  the  vessel  reaching  the  spot  it  turn- 
ed out  to  be  agitated  and  distracted  like  the  place  from 
which  I  surveyed  it.  History  tells  the  same  story.  IIow 
much  of  it  is  occupied  with  the  narrative  of  battles  and  this 
from  the  earliest  to  the  latest  times — in  which  we  have  had 
two  terribly  desolating  wars.  We  boast  of  our  splendid 
cities  ;  but  in  every  one  of  them  you  will  find  sinks  of  iniqui- 
ty, with  crime  and  misery  festering  and  fermenting,  and  in- 
to which  are  poured  the  filth  engendered  by  the  vices  of 
the  wealthy.  And  in  our  rural  districts  there  are  feuds 
and  rivalries,  bred  of  selfishness  and  passion,  raging  in 
scenes  in  which  all  may  seem  so  calm  and  peaceful  to  the 
superficial  observer.  There  are  warring  elements  in  every 
human  bosom,  and  in  every  society  composed  of  human 
beings.  Any  one  seeking  to  remove  the  causes  of  discord 
will  be  sure  to  irritate  and  to  meet  with  determined  oppo- 
sition, and  He  who  has  done  most  to  assuage  the  storm  had 
to  say  "  I  am  come  to  send  fire  on  the  earth."  "  Suppose  ye 
that  I  am  come  to  give  peace  on  eartli.  T  tell  you  nay,  but 
rather  division."  The  greatest  men  in  our  world  have 
been  martyrs  who  in  order  to  pull  down  the  evil  have  had 
themselves  to  perish.  And  is  not  the  science  of  our  day 
giving  us  the  very  same  picture  ?  When  we  read  the  older 
treatises  of  natural  theology,  founded  on  scientific  observa- 
tion, the  impression  is  apt  to  be  left  that  our  world  is  all 
fertile  and  smiling  landscape  with  no  desert  and  no  troub- 
led sea,  is  basking  in  the  full  sunshine  of  heaven  with  no 
darkness  and  no  night.  But  of  late  years  science  has  been 
obliged  to  speak  of  terrible  conflicts.  What  mean  these 
discoveries  of  worlds  being  formed  out  of  warring  elements  ? 
What   mean    these   "  struggles   for   existence"    of    which 


23 

naturalists  arc  forever  speakino-y  [t  is  clear  that  suflerinii; 
and  death  were  on  our  earth  since  life  appeared  on  it,  and 
reigned  "  over  them  that  liad  not  sinned  after  the  simili- 
tude of  Adam's  trangression."  Does  not  science  as  well 
as  Scripture  shew  that  "  the  whole  creation  groaneth  and 
travaileth  in  pain  together  until  now?"  The  two  are  thus 
seen  to  be  in  curious  correspondence;  l)ut  they  differ  in 
this  that  wliile  botli  speak  of  a  troubled  day  the  later  and 
more  comforting  revelation  of  God  assures  us  that  "  at 
evenincr  time  there  shall  be  li«;lit." 


Gentlemen  of  the  Graduating  Class.  You  have  been 
studying  for  years  past  at  a  College  which  aims  at  keeping 
tocrether  what  the  Creator  has  combined,  while  it  makes 
provision  for  the  diversity  of  tastes  which  the- same  All- 
Wise  God  has  implanted  in  our  natures.  There  is  a  dispo- 
sition in  some  of  our  American  Colleges,  and  these  claiming 
to  be  the  most  advanced,  to  allow  too  great  a  liberty — I 
call  it  a  license — in  study  to  those  who  are  seeking  the 
Bachelor's  Degree.  I  do  not  object  to  a  full  freedom  of 
study  to  every  one  ;  this  cannot  be  denied,  should  not  be 
denied.  But  I  am  speaking  of  what  our  higher  educational 
institutions  should  encourage;  and  I  hokHhat  a  College 
endowed  by  the  friends  of  education  should  foster,  not  the 
common  branches,  which  may  l)e  supplied  by  the  State  or 
left  to  be  cared  for  on  the  principle  of  demand  and  supply, 
but  the  highest  departments  of  study,  and  reward  those 
who  master  them  by  granting  a  Degree,  which  for  centu- 
ries past  has  had  a  meaning  all  over  the  civilized  world. 
It  is  not  for  the  benefit  of  education  that  the  inducements 
to  higher  learning  should  be  withdrawn,  and  that  tempta- 
tions should  be  held  out  to  a  dissipation  of  study,  or  a  one 
sided  learnino;  which  tends  to  rear  angular  minds,  which  are 


24 

not  only  i^-norant  but  aii'ect  to  despise  all  that  is  beyond 
their  own  narrow  circle.  In  this  College  we  mean,  not  to 
fall  in  with,  but  to  resist  this  tendency,  and  to  insist  on  all 
who  claim  our  Degree  being  grounded  in  certain  funda- 
mental l)ranches  such  as  Languages,  Literature,  Science 
and  Philosophy,  which  discipline  the  mind  and  open  tlie 
way  to  all  kinds  of  knowledge.  In  the  present  day  many  are 
allured  to  devote  themselves  excbisively  to  such  branches 
as  modern  languages  and  certain  departments  of  physical 
science  in  the  idea  that  they  are  likely  to  be  practically  use- 
ful. Two  evils  follow.  .  They  neglect  to  master,  when 
young,  certain  important  branches,  and  find,  when  they  have 
reached  that  age  at  which  it  is  irksome  to  begin  a  new  study, 
tliat  they  are  without  the  key  which  opens  the  richer  trea- 
sure-houses of  knowledge.  How  often,  for  example,  have 
young  men  to  regret  that  they  have  given  up  Classics,  when 
they  find  that  in  conse(|uence  the  whole  of  ancient  history, 
with  its  stirring  incidents  and  exhibitions  of  human  charac- 
ter, and  of  social  manners  and  institutions,  is  placed  be- 
yond their  range  of  vision  and  contemplation.  Another 
consequence  follows.  After  all,  they  have  acquired  a  con- 
tracted and  not  a  liberal  education,  and  are  apt  to  come 
under  the  influence  of  a  sectarian  and  bigoted,  rather  than 
a  catholic  spirit,  and  to  fall  into  positive  error  on  the  one 
side  or  the  otlier,  especially  in  such  all  important  subjects 
as  philosophy  and  religion,  b}'  not  being  in  a  position  to 
perceive  that  one  truth  is  limited  by  another.  I  hope  that 
the  graduates  of  Princeton  will  exercise  their  influence  to 
secure  that  in  ages  to  come  as  in  ages  past,  we  shall  believe 
in  the  trinity  of  literature,  science  and  philosophy. 

But  our  minds  are  not  formed  originally  alike,  any  more 
than  our  bodily  frames  are.  All  are  so  far  alike  that  they 
are  able  to  acquire  the  elements  of  the  more  essential 
branches,  and  if  any  feel  that  they  have  an  aversion  to  any 
particular  branch  of  high  study,  it  is  a  sign  that  there  is  a 


25 

weakness  in  their  constitution,  and  instead  of  yielding  to  it 
they  shouUl  seek  by  the  proper  gymnastic  to  strengthen  it, 
and  give  a  robustness  and  a  full  rounded  development  to  their 
whole  frame.  Hut  it  is  wrong,  it  is  vain  to  try  to  stretch 
all  on  the  same  Procrustes'  bed.  There  is  sui-ely  room  in 
a  four  years'  course  for  a  diversity  with  the  unity  of  study. 
We  may  allow  advanced  students  who  have  mastered  the 
elements  of  the  fundamental  studies  to  make  a  selection 
among  other  useful  branches,  to  gratify  their  heaven  in- 
planted  tastes  and  prepare  themselves  for  the  professional 
pursuits  before  them.  I  admit  that  this  power  of  choice 
may  be  abused.  It  is  certain  to  be  so  by  too  young  students 
who  might  avoid  some  of  the  most  important  branches,  as 
being  utterly  ignorant  of  their  utility  and  feeling  the  ini- 
tiatory steps  to  be  irksome.  Even  advanced  students  may 
pervert  it,  especially  the  idle  and  lazy  by  selecting  the  studies 
supposed  to  be  easiest,  or  in  which  the  instructor  lets  off  his 
pupils  with  the  least  amount  of  work.  But  this  evil  may 
be  lessened  by  proper  college  regulations  securing  a  unifor- 
mity of  standard ;  and  with  its  few  incidental  disadvantages, 
the  system  which  allows  election  within  certain  limits  is  to 
be  preferred  to  one  which  excludes  all  new  branches  of 
knowledge,  because  there  is  not  time  to  study  them,  or 
forces  every  one  of  them  on  all  the  students,  who  in  seek- 
ing to  acquire  all  the  branches  end  in  mastering  none.  In 
nature  every  tree,  every  animal,  every  branch,  every 
leaf,  every  Hower,  every  limb  differs  from  every  other, 
while  all  are  after  a  type  which  gives  a  unity  to  tlie  struc- 
ture. So  it  should  be  with  the  students  trained  at  our  Col- 
lege. Let  them  retain,  let  them  cherish  their  distinctions, 
their  individualities,  their  very  peculiarities  ;  their  taste  for 
poetry,  their  taste  for  languages,  their  taste  for  physical 
science,their  taste  for  mathematics,  their  taste  for  philosophy, 
while  all  are  rooted  and  grounded  in  certain  fundamental 
principles  which  keep  them  from  deviating  into  extremes — 


26 

save  tliein  in  fact  from  becoming  monsters — and  fashion 
them  all  after  the  same  high  model  of  educated  gentlemen. 

While  we  aim  to  have  all  trained  in  the  useful  branches 
of  secular  knowledge,  bearing  on  the  improvement  of  the  in- 
tellect, the  refinement  of  the  taste,  and  the  preparation  for 
the  anxious  pursuits  of  life,  we  cannot  forget  in  this  College, 
that  man  is  an  immortal  being.  The  students  here  are 
most  of  them  separated  from  their  parents  and  guardians ; 
and  standing  as  we  do  in  loco  j^arejitis,  it  is  expected  of  us 
and  it  is  our  bounden  duty,  to  provide  religious  instruction 
for  them.  Even  as  it  is  God  who  gives  a  unity  to  his  works, 
so  it  is  the  fear  and  love  of  God  that  impart  a  unity  to  all 
our  intellectual  energies,  and  a  consistency  to  the  character 
and  life.  I  conduct  the  Biblical  Instruction  by  means  of  a 
lecture  on  Sabbath  followed  by  a  recitation  on  a  week  day 
on  the  part  of  each  class.  My  course  of  instruction  runs 
over  four  years.  The  first  year  I  took  up  the  four  Gospels 
and  the  Life  of  our  Lord;  the  second  year  the  Book  of 
Acts  and  the  planting  of  the  Christian  Church ;  this  last 
year  a  simple  statement  and  defence  of  Christian  Doctrine, 
with  an  exposition  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  ;  and  next 
year  I  take  up  the  Old  Testament.  My  recitations  have 
enabled  me  once  a  week  to  meet  face  with  face  with  every 
student  in  the  College.  At  these  meetings,  beside  becom- 
ing acquainted  with  the  students,  and  I  trust  depositing 
some  seeds  of  truth  in  their  minds,  I  have  been  enabled  by 
moral  suasion  to  put  an  end,  I  trust  forever,  to  some  of  the 
old  evil  practices  of  the  College,  and  to  crush  in  the  bud 
some  new  evils  as  they  threatened  to  break  out. 

It  is  to  be  recorded  to  the  credit  of  the  Class  now 
graduating  that  they  have  assisted  the  authorities  in 
rooting  out  some  of  the  low  and  vicious  habits  of  the 
College.  They  early  pledged  themselves  to  discountenance 
the  mean  attacks  on  students  at  the  dead  of  night,  and  the 
issuing  of  vile  publications,  and  at  a  later  date  they  bound 


27 

themselves  to  avoid  mid  discourage  iiiteiuperaiice.  It  will 
bo  written  in  the  history  of  this  College,  nnd  will  go  down 
to  all  future  generations,  that  the  Class  of  1871  was  the  first 
to  bind  itself  to  stop  these  evils,  and  was  the  means  of  break- 
ing the  descent  from  one  year  to  another. 

The  members  of  this  Class  have  endeared  themselves  to 
me  personally,  as  w^c  met  together  from  week  to  week  now 
for  nearly  three  academic  years.  I  do  not  at  this  moment 
remember  a  single  unpleasant  incident  in  our  intercourse 
with  one  another.  You  W'Ould  have  a  right  to  charge  me 
with  a  cold  heart — and  this  infirmity  I  am  not  willing  to 
confess — if  I  did  not  feel  moved  now  in  parting  with  you, 
and  if  I  did  not  promise  to  look  forward  with  deep  and 
lively  interest  to  the  future  career  of  the  Class  as  a  whole,  and 
of  the  individual  members.  I  feel  that  I  w^ill  ever  rejoice 
when  I  hear  of  you  prospering,  and  grieve  when  I  learn 
of  any  evil  befalling  you. 

We  send  you  forth  from  our  w^alls  furnished  w^itlia  solid 
liberal  education.  Different  lots  w^e  may  conceive  are  be- 
fore you.  You  are  to  betake  yourselves  to  different  pro- 
fessions, walks  and  pursuits.  Very  diverse  may  be  youi* 
destinations  in  life.  The  coldest  heart  cannot  look  on  a 
company  of  young  men,  such  as  that  now  before  me,  with- 
out emotion.  One  would  like  to  have  a  horoscope  to  fore- 
cast the  future,  and  see  therein  where  you  are  to  be,  and 
what  you  are  to  be  doing,  at  some  defined  time  in  the  future, 
say  five  or  ten  years  hence.  Some  we  might  find  still  near 
us ;  some  prospering  in  the  journey,  some  meeting  with  one 
disappointment  after  another ;  a  number  in  this  w^orld,  some 
gone  to  the  world  beyond  the  grave.  But  wherever  you 
are  and  w^herever  you  go  in  this  world,  I  trust  to  hear  of 
you,  in  low  position  or  in  high,  in  sunshine  or  in  storm, 
cultivating  an  academic  spirit  and  difiusingan  elevated  taste 
around  you  ;  cherishing  a  manly  independence,  and  follow- 
ing^ the  path  of  integrity  and  honor  ;  holding  firmly  ])y  the 


28 

truth  of  God,  feoling  your  (Icpenclonce  on  Ilini,  and  cling- 
ing to  the  hope  of  dwelling  in  his  presence  in  heaven. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  after  our  separation  a  few  days 
hence  we  will  all  meet  again  in  this  world.  Whether  we 
meet  again  on  earth  let  us  cherish  the  hope  of  all  meeting 
— no  wanderer  lost — in  heaven,  there  to  sing  the  song  of  the 
redeemed.  But  let  us  inquire  this  day  whether  we  are  pre- 
pared to  join  in  that  song.  "  IN'o  man  could  learn  that  song 
but  the  hundred  and  forty  and  four  thousand  which  were 
redeemed  from  the  earth."  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  a 
choir  in  which  every  one  has  to  take  his  part,  and  the  soul 
unprepared  would  feel  itself  to  be  a  discordant  note.  The 
universe  we  have  seen  is  a  harmony,  a  harmony  with  God, 
a  harmony  in  itself — the  only  discordance  arising  from  sin. 
But  suppose  that  you  are  out  of  this  harmony  being  still  in 
your  sins,  that  you  are  at  war  with  God,  and  with  war  rag- 
ing in  your  souls.  Put  the  supposition,  that  in  this  state 
you  are  taken  to  heaven.  Would  you  feel  thai  to  be  the 
place  for  you?  Would  not  the  holiness  that  shines  there 
be  as  painful  to  look  upon,  as  to  gaze  forever  with  unveiled 
eyes  on  the  full  radiance  of  the  noonday  sun  ?  Would  not 
the  brightness  of  the  light  only  shew  your  blackness  in 
darker  and  more  hideous  colors  ?  The  happiness  that  reigns 
there  would  only  make  you  the  more  to  feel  your  own  mis- 
ery. I  believe  that  if  you  were  to  carry  an  unconverted 
sinner  to  heaven,  he  would  flee  out  of  it  as  of  all  places  to 
him  the  most  intolerable. 

The  song  is  sung  in  heaven,  but  it  is  learned  on  earth. 
It  is  a  new^  song,  diflerent  from  the  old  songs  which  you 
first  learned,  of  earthly  war,  or  love,  or  fame  ;  it  is  a  song 
coming  from  a  soul  which  has  fought  with  sin  and  over- 
come it,  and  filled  with  affection  to  Him  who  has  enabled 
it  to  gain  the  victory.  "  He  hath  put  a  new  song  in  my 
mouth,  even  praise  to  our  God."  The  saints  must  learn  it 
on  earth,  if  they  are  to  sing  it  in  heaven.     We  live  and 


29 

walk  in  the  midst  of  harmonics,  and  wu  must  sti'ivc  to  bring 
ourselves  into  accordance  with  them  :  as  the  Stoics  sternly 
expressed  it,  "  living  according  to  nature,"  according  to  the 
eternal  FatiDH^  or  word  spoken  by  the  all  wise  God  ;  or  as 
the  scriptures  would  have  us,  living  and  breathing  in  love. 
All  the  lessons  of  Providence,  all  the  trials  we  come  through, 
are  so  ordered  as  to  foster  this  spirit,  and  to  bring  our  minds 
into  accordance  with  the  mind  and  will  of  God.  In  the 
concert  in  the  temple  above  are  many  toned  voices,  each 
singing  in  its  own  Avay  but  all  in  unison.  The  plaintive 
notes  show  that  there  are  souls  there  which  have  been  sorely 
wounded  in  the  battle  ;  the  more  triumphant  show  that  they 
have  gained  the  victory.  The  song  is  sung  in  broken  tones 
on  earth,  it  is  sung  in  exultant  strains  in  heaven.  Xor  do 
the  saints  become  weary  in  this  service.  Their  hearts  are 
in  unison  with  their  song,  and  as  they  behold  more  of  God 
and  of  the  Lamb  they  find  new  themes  of  praise,  new  mat- 
ter for  wonder  and  for  thankfulness. 

I  believe  that  in  their  resurrection  bodies,  the  saints 
will  he  literally  engaged  iu  singing  the  song  of  Moses  and 
the  Lamb.  But  we  may  understand  th  language  in  a  wider 
sense.  It  nuiy  be  regarded  as  pointing  to  a  music  in  the 
soul,  to  a  harmony  in  the  thoughts,  the  words  and  the  em- 
ployments. Every  being  in  glory  will  be  engaged  in  a  work 
suited  to  his  gifts,  his  tastes  and  attainments.  Here  a 
seraph,  which  signifies  fire,  will  be  engaged  in  a  work  of 
perfect  love;  here  a  cherub,  which  signifies  mind,  will  be 
absorbed  in  a  work  of  perfect  intellect.  "  It  doth  not  yet 
appear  what  we  shall  be;"  but  this  I  believe,  that  every 
faculty,  every  acquisition  gained  at  school  or  college,  or  in 
the  training  of  Providence,  will  be  employed — not  idle  or 
running  waste,  but  employed  in  tlie  service  of  God  : — of  a 
wise  God,  who  will  allot  to  every  one  iiis  suitflblc  work,  the 
work  for  whicli  he  is  fitted,  for  which  indeed  he  has  been 


30 ' 

prepared,  bj  his  original  talents,  his  acquired  accomplish- 
ments, and  all  the  training  through  which  he  has  been  put 
in  life  and  at  death ;  of  a  good  God,  who  employs  his  crea- 
tures in  doing  good,  and  makes  them  happy  in  the  doing  of 
it,  so  that  all  their  work  is  doubly  blessed,  blessed  to  the 
doer  and  blessed  also  to  those  for  whom  it  is  done. 


